53 of 112 Survive DR. Congo Plane Crash

A plane carrying 112 people crashed as it attempted to land in stormy weather in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Friday, but at least 53 people have survived, the air company said.

The plane, operated by Hewa Bora Airways, crashed at Kisangani airport in the northeast of the country.

"We don't know how many people are dead but there are at least 53 survivors from a total 112 passengers and personnel crew," the airline's director Stavros Papaioannou, told Agence France Presse.

"The crew members of the Boeing 727 are the first (confirmed) dead," he added.

The plane was on its regular commercial route from Kinshasa to Kisangani and Goma when it was hit by the storm as it approached the airport, Lambert Mende, a spokesman for the local administration said.

The heavy rains at the time hampered the rescue operation, he added.

A plume of black smoke could be seen at the end of the runway, an AFP journalist reported. But flights, which had been suspended after the crash, resumed a short time later.

Plane accidents frequently occur in DR Congo.

A U.N. aircraft crashed as it tried to land in a storm in Kinshasa in April, killing 32.

In August last year 20 people were killed after a plane flown by the head of a local airline crashed during landing in the west of the country.